I am wondering if there is a way to execute a console program in nano, i saw that when I save a file, it gives an option of ctrl+x to execute but that is only when saving, it doesn't work while editing. any suggestions?

You can switch to another x terminal or virtual terminal to do that. I don't think you can do that from within nano.

From a virtual terminal, you can switch from one terminal to another by holding down the alt key and pressing one of the function keys F1 - F6. If you are in x, hold down the control key as well as the alt and F<N> key and you will go that terminal. The terminal that was first used to login will be busy and if x was run from that terminal, the error messages generated by x will be shown. The others will display the login prompt until it is used to log in to an account. To return to x from a virtual terminal, press alt and F7 and you are back to your x session.

Thanks fancypiper, I thought there might be a way to do it inside of nano like there is in VIM. I never thought of switching. I only ever use the ctrl+alt+f1. and the X one at f7.